Tiny House Measures Just One Square Meter

Urban areas are in need of increasingly smaller housing units. In fact, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has gotten behind the concept of a “micro apartment,” which could become the housing model for the City’s growing small-household population.

While Bloomberg’s 300 square foot apartments are fairly cramped, they’re cavernous when compared to the aptly named “One-Sqm-House,” designed by Berlin-based architect Van Bo Le-Mentzel.

This innovative unit is of course very sparse, as it comes with a lockable door, a window, and a chair–that’s it because there isn’t room for anything else. The units are a part of Berlin’s Eastseven Hostel and there are fees to access the building’s kitchen and bathrooms, since these one meter houses don’t include plumbing.

“So I said, OK, I want to have my own square meter … that no one other than I, myself, can decide what happens with this one square meter of mine in the world,” explained Le-Mentzel in a recent interview. “It’s the only square meter in the world where I can decide what direction the window looks in, what direction the door opens in, what neighbors I have.”

For those who interested in renting one of these shoeboxes, the One-Sqm-House is currently listed on Airbnb for €1 ($1.30) a night, but when the experiment closes July 29, the builders can come back and retrieve their creations.

Take a closer looking at this unique housing concept via the video.

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